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Our Homeschool Goals For 2015-2016

With public schools here back in session today, I woke up feeling gratitude for the blessings of homeschooling. First off, even though we combine our homeschooling with distance-education through Liahona Academy, I am thankful that Marcus and Marissa's online classes don't start up until August 31st. With our move to Arizona this very weekend, that gives us all of next week to unpack, settle in, and organize our homeschool.

I purchased these containers to store each student's school supplies (everything, but their text books) in one place. These will fit nicely in the back of my car for our move and will be easy for the kids to tote around the apartment.

Second, I am thankful for the freedom to homeschool and for the freedoms homeschooling gives us. I love having Marissa and Marcus home with me every day. I love that time with them. I love sharing our days together. I love being on OUR schedule, waking up when we choose to, not when we have to, and changing subjects only when we want to, not when a bell tolls. I love that my kids can go to the bathroom when they need to, without anyone's permission. I love that they can snack when they are hungry, drink when they are thirsty and that they can eat their breakfast and lunch at a leisurely pace. I love that they can freely TALK and openly SHARE their thoughts and ideas throughout the day. I love that they move around and stretch when they need to, even in the middle of a lesson. I love how our school day only takes up a third to half of a public school day while accomplishing MORE and we can take every Friday off!

Both Marissa and Marcus will set personal goals for this new school year, and I have my own goals as a homeschooling mom. This year, I also wanted a combined, inspirational goal for Happy Hearts Homeschool, something we memorize and strive to live by together, and I found it in two scripture verses (D&C 88:118-119):

Seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith.

Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God.

Now more than ever I am realizing how precious our time is here on earth. Now more than ever I am realizing the importance of spiritual growth and spiritual knowledge. Textbooks contain some wisdom, but we have to watch out. Most textbooks only tell one side of the story, the worldly side. They are missing vital spiritual truths. Scriptures on the other hand contain truth, wisdom, light and knowledge. It's important to me that my children gain their own testimonies, that they are strong in the gospel and that they have a personal relationship with their Heavenly Father and their Savior, Jesus Christ. Homeschooling gives us more time to focus on the spiritual knowledge as well as secular knowledge. Both are important, but one without the other is incomplete knowledge. We live in this world, therefore, we need to understand this world, but we also need to know who we are, where we came from and where we're going. We need to know our purpose here on earth so that we can learn and grow and make the choices that will return us to our heavenly home safely, and together, as families.

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